


silent hour of night, good night

by mellowie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Childhood, Childhood Memories, Dreams, M/M, Open to Interpretation, Orphanage, Supernatural - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-28
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:27:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27079561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mellowie/pseuds/mellowie
Summary: All Doyoung wanted was to take a nap in peace. All Taeyong wanted was to take a nap with him.
Relationships: Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung/Lee Taeyong
Comments: 16
Kudos: 67
Collections: Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors





	silent hour of night, good night

**Author's Note:**

> ahh this is another draft that I had for a long time and thought it kinda suited the theme so I brushed it up a little and found it a mini-home!
> 
> (also turns out I'm actually pretty predictable in my ship choices....)

When the right hand and left hand of the clock aligned at exactly 12 noon, the sound of real hands clapping twice would signal that it was nap time. All tiny heads must be seen resting on the floor. There were no exceptions to this rule. 

But since there were ten minutes left to spare before any adults could catch him awake, Doyoung picked up his nap mat and pillow and left his group of playmates.

He made his way across the playroom to the corner near the window, where the air was warmer and comfier. Most of the children preferred the opposite side where the carpet with colourful dinosaurs softened the floor. But Doyoung didn’t mind lying on hardwood. It gave him a chance to claim his own spot for once, and be far away from any boisterous company in peace.

At least, that was what he thought.

He cast a sideways glance towards the startled boy behind him, standing five footsteps away.

“...Why do you keep following me?”

Doyoung let out the obvious question that has been stirring in his mind since morning when he arrived at the orphange’s doorstep. He shot him a pointed look as he demanded an answer.

The boy looked so small as he trembled, hugging his teddy bear against his chest. The cotton blanket over his head nearly engulfed him as he peeked out from under the hem. He gazed at Doyoung with doleful eyes, reminding him of a lively puppy whose hopes have been dashed.

“ _I...I just wanna…_ ” the boy’s lips quivered, sending trembling waves throughout his tiny frame. “...n-nap with you. Is that..not okay?”

His eyes were welling up like an unleashed water faucet. Doyoung’s entire body froze in that instance, stupefied, having no idea how to shut it off. He was most shocked at how fast the boy was crumbling into pieces before him. Did Doyoung sound _that_ harsh?

“N-No, that’s not what I mean-!”

Doyoung attempted to correct himself in a more genial manner, but cut himself short as soon as he was bewildered by another sudden action. The boy’s face was scrunching up tremendously like a squeezed sponge. He seemed to be holding his breath against his will.

Was he going to wail? He looked like he was going to wail. But it was no good drawing attention when it was this close to nap time.

With the same puzzlement of looking up the dictionary after coming across a word he didn’t know in a storybook, Doyoung narrowed his eyes and frowned at the boy. He liked to pretend he was a scientist too sometimes. If he was, this boy would remind him of a rare alien species who crashed from outer space. 

However, as the second passed, it turned out to be something much more-

His reflexes reacted quicker than his mind. Doyoung’s hand reached for the handkerchief in his pocket and he wasted no time stuffing the cloth up the boy’s nose. 

“Ah… _ACHOO!_ ”

The boy released a muffled sneeze into Doyoung’s handkerchief. The powerful impact seemed to ease all the tension in his body, relaxing his shoulders and chest.

 _And I was going to use it later…_ Doyoung grimaced, utterly dismayed at the now less-than-desirable condition of his handkerchief. He didn’t even know he could move that fast. Still, he sighed with relief.

“Heehee…” the boy giggled into his pillow. With all honesty, he was the most peculiar among the children. Even more so than anyone he had ever met. Doyoung looked at him, head tilting with a hint of curiosity.

“You’re...weird,” Doyoung said. He wiped the remaining mucus off the boy’s little nose, like how he used to watch his own mom do for him. It makes him feel strangely calm, as if it was a natural thing to do.

“You’re weird too!” said the boy, his eyes shining bright like the glow-in-the-stars pasted on the ceiling. Doyoung certainly didn’t mean it as a compliment. But rather than telling the boy that, he gave him a smile.

The resounding sound of hands clapping twice meant that nap time should be commencing right away.

Doyoung turned around and resumed his plan, pulling his nap mat and pillow along with him. The familiar _pit pats_ of the boy’s footsteps on hardwood followed. Doyoung laid his nap mat down, flattened it, fluffed his pillow next, and settled into his corner at last.

Moments later, when he rolled onto his left, he came face-to-face with the boy, who was lying on his right.

“Good night, _Dowong_!” the boy beamed with a twinkle in his eyes, where light seemed to forever reside. Doyoung didn’t know how to feel about them. As those eyes closed, Doyoung had, for the first time, a fleeting wish to see them a while longer, for he wondered how he was reflected in them.

“Night, Taeyongie.”

It wasn’t exactly nighttime, nor were they going to sleep for a great amount of time, but Doyoung was feeling too drowsy to point that out.

Taeyong snuggled up to Doyoung, his soft teddy bear cushioning the gap between them. Doyoung never had someone his age resting so near him before. He usually avoided keeping close to them out of inconvenience. Perhaps for now, he could make space for a little more.

He lifted Taeyong’s blanket over them for warmth. The blanket turned out to be fit for only one, so Doyoung tucked it in for Taeyong.

Lying close with their fingertips brushing, the two children napped in a space that, on that day, was made to be theirs.

“Wow, Doyoungie is so smart!”

The children surrounded Doyoung in a circle, gasping in unison as he solved a 2x2 Rubik’s cube right before their eyes.

“No, this is just normal...” Doyoung shifted in his seat. He could never get used to being under the spotlight that he didn’t ask for.

“But everyone tried so hard to get the squares right for so long, and you did it within five seconds!” Johnny exclaimed. He was a taller, spirited boy who loved running around the fields and doing random cartwheels. He was also usually the first to call attention to Doyoung, for some reason he never did comprehend.

“It took me about nine seconds, actually…” Doyoung pointed out. 

“See?!” Jungwoo, a younger peppy kid, chipped in. He poked his head out from behind Johnny’s arm. “Told you!”

Doyoung stared down at the perfect Rubik's Cube cradled in his palm. There was no use dissuading them any further. 

“What else should we play today?” Johnny asked the group. “The penguin board game?”

“Aww, but if I play against Doyoungie, I’ll lose!” Jungwoo let out a whine. “I don’t wanna… Let’s go outside instead!”

At his suggestion, the robust children brightened and cheered. Despite sighing at their needless energy, it made Doyoung think about a certain someone who would have been more than eager to join in. “Alright then, it’s settled,” Johnny said, glancing to the left. “Doyoungie, are you coming with us?”

“No,” Doyoung shook his head. “I’m no good at sports or playing tag.”

“Aw, join us!” Johnny insisted. “You’re always alone even during naptime. Isn’t that boring?”

“No,” Doyoung mumbled, glancing down to the floor. “Taeyong’s there, so...”

“Huh? Taeyong?” Johnny searched the exuberant faces of children in the room, confused. “Who’s that? Did someone new join us?”

It wasn’t a big deal, Doyoung reminded himself. Taeyong, being shy, had always hidden himself from everyone, only to show up for naps. Which was why no one knew of his presence, and why Doyoung found it pointless to mention his name.

“Nothing. It’s about to rain soon, anyway,” Doyoung changed the subject. “There won’t be enough time for more than one round of games.”

“What?! It’s raining?” Jungwoo peered out the window, where the bright, sunny sky stretched into the dense trees.

“Dummy, he said it’s _going_ to,” Johnny corrected the younger boy. A frown settled on his face as he worked it over. “But how do you know that, Doyoungie?”

Doyoung paused, wondering how to put it into words. He wrinkled his nose. “The smell.”

“Smell?”

They stared at each other. There was a hint of curiosity in Johnny’s eyes. A twinkle of innocence that Doyoung wasn’t sure whether to turn away.

“You mean Johnny’s stinky socks?” Jungwoo piped up, making Johnny playfully shove him aside.

“No. It’s from the woods,” Doyoung said. “It’s…earthy, I guess.”

Johnny sniffed the air. “Earthy, huh? Hmm, now that you mentioned, it does smell like that...” His eyes landed on the ticking clock on the wall, watching it slip to a quarter past eleven.

Then shoutings rang with a gust of wind outside, and everyone except Doyoung rushed and piled onto the window. Stirring clouds in shades of grey loomed overhead in the distance. Across the fields, the adults were chasing the other children back into the house. Johnny let a breath.

“Doyoungie, you’re always right, aren’t you?”

Doyoung went quiet. Without another word, he got up, handed back the puzzle to Johnny, and walked away.

When the right hand and left hand of the clock aligned at exactly 12 noon, the sound of real hands clapping twice would signal that it was nap time. 

This time, Doyoung was firm on making it to the corner by himself. He didn’t let anything halt his steps, not when his nap mat felt heavier than usual, and not when the calls of the whimpering boy echoed throughout the hallway.

“ _Dowong!_ ” Taeyong said, trailing after him. “Are you going to sleep? I wanna go too!”

“Can you leave me alone?” Doyoung groaned. He wasn’t in the mood to avoid mincing words.

“Ehh? Whyyy?” Taeyong whined a pitiful, puppy-like cry that tugged at his heart. Doyoung let out a sigh as he gave in. He turned to face the boy.

Taeyong was clutching his teddy bear as usual, though it seemed to be missing one eye. The same blanket wrapped around Taeyong’s shoulders looked like it could fall off any moment. Doyoung resisted the urge to pull and secure it back around him.

“I… I just want to be alone, okay?” Doyoung said after a pause.

“Then we can be alone together!”

“That’s not what being ‘alone’ means…”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. If all you do is chase after others, then you’d know what it means to be alone.”

Doyoung glanced at the backroom up ahead where the adults usually gather for lunch breaks. One of the rules imposed was that no child could enter, so he towed his nap mat along and passed by the door.

That was when his ears caught traces of a whisper beyond the thin walls. A whisper which carried the sound of his name.

Doyoung strained his ears. The faint whisper was slowly overlapping with different voices.

“What happened?” Taeyong’s voice joined in, brimming with curiosity. “Did you find something-“

Doyoung pressed a finger to his lips, motioning at Taeyong to stay silent. Taeyong looked startled at first, blinking his round eyes, but quickly got the message and cupped his hands around his mouth.

“ _Dongyong..._ ” said Mr. Taeil, whose name the children came to associate as the head of the orphanage. “ _...appears to be...a precocious child..._ ”

The implications behind those words gripped Doyoung, freezing him in place. He had been well aware of how everyone viewed him here. As someone who was oddly perceptive for his age. As someone who was simply different. That was nothing out of the ordinary. He had accepted it long ago.

But if so, why was there a weight in the atmosphere that he couldn’t shake off?

“ _But something...bothers me…_ ”

“ _Do you mean… He was talking to someone... Not here…_ ”

“ _Yes…named Taeyong, was it?_ ”

“ _Tae...yong…? Isn't he...missing?_ ”

Doyoung felt his blood run cold. His nap mat slipped from his grip, falling to the floor, soundless as the beat of his heart. He shivered.

If he was right, if he was right… _Taeyong would be..._

“ _Dowong?_ What’s wrong?”

At the warm resonant voice, Doyoung snapped out of his daze. Taeyong gazed at him with eyes filled with worry. His tug on the hem of Doyoung’s shirt felt more real than anything else. Surely no harm would come to those who radiated such innocence, and no harm would come to those who dared to touch it.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing,” said Doyoung. “If you really want to come with me then we should hurry. But be quiet, okay? You can’t let the adults hear you.”

“Okay!”

Taeyong skipped alongside Doyoung, his enthusiasm so palpable it cleared the air of any doubts. Doyoung helped to pick up his blanket when it dropped from his shoulders as he had expected. Taeyong could only laugh sheepishly at his blunder.

“Are we sleeping near the corner again?” he asked with a spring in his step.

“Yup, that’s always our spot, right?”

“Right!”

Doyoung may not readily admit it, at least not during their first meeting. But the more they spent time together, the more grateful he was to have Taeyong for company.

Every other kid, sometimes even the adults, looked at him in a different light. Doyoung knew this in their peculiar glances, the undertones of their whispers, the measured distance between them when they had to gather in a group. 

All Doyoung wanted was to take a nap in peace. All Taeyong wanted was to take a nap with him. It was aggravating at times, being pestered by his bright, earnest smile every day. But Doyoung never knew it was all he needed.

They rolled out their mats and blankets and laid down side by side, the teddy bear with the missing eye squished between them. Taeyong spread his arms in a big yawn.

“Taeyongie, why do you want to nap with me all the time?” Doyoung asked. He doesn’t dislike this special treatment, yet he couldn’t help but wonder. “You could’ve gone with anyone else…”

“Hmm, that’s because...” Taeyong gave it a thought. “I like _Dowong_ the most!”

“Right, if you say so...” Doyoung fixed his eyes on the ceiling, the dim glow of the star stickers betraying the disbelief in his voice.

“It’s true!” Taeyong insisted. “I’m so happy whenever I nap with you!” he beamed, bringing his blanket up to his chin. “Will we be together in the future, _Dowong_?”

“I don’t know…” Doyoung tended to avoid thinking so far ahead in time. The level of uncertainty he saw in his future made him nervous. “Maybe if you learn to take care of yourself better, I’ll find you less of a bother.”

“Ehh? You think I’m a bother?” Taeyong stared at him, mouth agape in utter shock. “Noo…! But that’s why you need to be with me,” he pulled his blanket further up over his nose, as if seeking a place to hide. “I’m no good by myself…”

Doyoung laughed. “It’s not like I can always be there to get you out of trouble, Taeyongie. Aren’t you older than me, anyway?”

“Am I?” Taeyong raised his pitch, feigning ignorance. “But you sound like a Grandpa yourself sometimes _,”_ he teased.

“Maybe you should learn how to keep quiet too,” Doyoung jabbed Taeyong at the waist, causing him to cry “ _Ow!_ ” in response.

There it arrived. The resounding sound of hands clapping twice. Doyoung closed his eyes, attempting sleep. But he should have known that it was going to be futile. Taeyong kept him awake, and seconds later, Doyoung found himself lying on his side, cheek against pillow, staring into the bright irises of the boy’s eyes.

Taeyong beamed, his pale face enclosed in a glow warmer than the sun. He giggled into his pillow. “Right now, I’m really happy!”

Doyoung sighed, lips widening into a smile. “Yeah, I know,” he mumbled, owing to Taeyong's infectious energy.

“Heehee...” Taeyong turned towards him. “ _Dowong_ , are you happy too?”

The question caught him by surprise. A slight skip of the heartbeat thump in his ears.

“I’m…”

Doyoung’s gaze wavered. Taeyong peeked his hand out from underneath his blanket, wondering what was wrong. The light in his eyes held him steady. Patiently for an answer that slipped like ice.

In all his short years of living by far, Doyoung couldn’t have known that he would not see those eyes sparkle again. Not for a long time.

He held out his hand, inhaled, and tried again. 

“Right now, I’m with you...so I...

...So I- What?”

Doyoung started. He lay on his side, hand stretched out, heart pounding in his throat. The pinch pleat curtains billowed in the wind, blowing against his cheek and cooling the sweat clinging to his back. His open palm twitched, a phantom touch lingering at the tip. The feeling that tugged at his consciousness in every waking moment. His glazed eyes searched the darkness, yearning to reach the familiar presence beside him.

But Taeyong was not here.

Uttering a groan, Doyoung rolled onto his back. In a bed with no room for two, his pillow felt stuffed with sand. Those dreams again. Haunting his memories, which was growing more and more malleable over the years. Some things don’t last as long as others. He knew that all too well.

A glimpse of light from the sleepless city poured into the dusty room. Doyoung wrinkled his nose not at the smell of earth, but of wet asphalt. Thinking about the overdue rent made his head groggier. He drifted his gaze over to the alarm clock at his nightstand, where he had just replaced the batteries the day before, and his hands clenched the sheets. 

The clock was about to strike half past twelve. Except that this time, there was no sound, only the resounding ring of his heart calling out to the void.

“Taeyong?” Doyoung whispered the question in his heart for the umpteenth time, letting it wander alone in the darkness without an answer yet again.

“Where did you go…?”

**Author's Note:**

> spooky spook! I actually thought of this as an art idea! but decided to explore it in writing haha and now that it's written out, I realized that interpretations might be different even though I had it in my head xD
> 
> (welp I hope it wasn't too sad pls imagine happy baby young and yongie)


End file.
